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Denial And Concealment Of Unwanted Pregnancy: "A Film Hollywood Dared Not Do", Susan Ayres, Prema Manjunath
Denial And Concealment Of Unwanted Pregnancy: "A Film Hollywood Dared Not Do", Susan Ayres, Prema Manjunath
Faculty Scholarship
The actual cases and two films examined in this essay challenge stock narratives of mothers who deny or conceal unwanted pregnancy as a monster, or a victim, and also challenge "legal norms, logic and structures" pertaining to unwanted pregnancy and neonaticide. This essay draws on films because of their influential power to "reach enormous audiences by combining narratives and appealing characters with visual imagery and technological achievement, ... stir deep emotions and leave deep impressions." For these reasons, Orit Kamir asserts that films are more compelling than "theoretical legal texts or even judicial rhetoric."
The two films examined -- Stephanie …